Russian special services continue their attempts to silence Ukrainian religious leaders who are bringing the truth about the war to the international community. On July 23, 2025, the deputy secretary general of the Ukrainian Bible Society, Pastor Anatoliy Raichynets, received an anonymous threatening phone call saying, “You will pay for slandering Russia.” The call came from a disposable number.
Source: IRS
The threat came the day after the publication of Raichynets’ interview in the Norwegian newspaper Vart Land, where he spoke openly about Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, as well as systematic religious persecution in the temporarily occupied territories. He had previously participated in international advocacy trips by delegations of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) to the Czech Republic and Denmark, where he met with diplomats, politicians, and public figures.
This is not the first case of pressure on Ukrainian clergy. In the past, religious leaders of various denominations have repeatedly reported receiving threatening emails. Such incidents testify to Russia’s attempts to silence voices that speak out about war crimes, human rights violations, and oppression of freedom of conscience in the occupied territories.
It should be recalled that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the religious community of Ukraine has been actively engaged in international advocacy. Church leaders are telling the world the truth about the war, testifying to the destruction of churches, the torture of clergy, and the systematic persecution of believers. Meanwhile, leading figures in the Russian Orthodox Church, including Patriarch Kirill, justify Russian aggression, calling it a “holy war.”
